Cup dispenser



May 25, 1937. s. N. HOPE 2,081,177

CUP DISPENSER Filed Feb. 14, 1935 FIG.1

IIIHHI' INVENTOR SAMUEL /v. HOPE Patented May 25, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CUP DISPENSER Samuel-N. Hope, Wauwatosa, Wis., assignor to Griffith-Hope Company, West Allis, Wis.', a corporation of Wisconsin Application Claims The invention relates to dispensers for paper cups and the like.

It is desirable in many instances to dispense nested paper cups directly from the package in which they are supplied.

An object of the invention, is to provide an improved dispenser for this purpose of'simpie, durable and inexpensive construction, and of such character as to facilitate the mounting therein of the cup package.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates one specific embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1- is a perspective view of a cup dispenser constructed in accordance with the invention, a cup package being mounted in place;

' Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the dispenser,.parts being broken away and parts being shown in section, and a Fig. 3 is a front view of the dispenser, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section.

- In the drawing, Ill designates a cardboard cup package or carton of a well-known type enclosing therein-a stack of nested paper cups II. The package is here shown to be of the usual square cross-section and bears suitable advertising and other indicia on one or more of its sides. By opening the bottom end of the package, cups may be manually withdrawn one at the time bottom end foremost without danger of contaminating the rim portions of the cups.

It is desirable to provide means for holdin the cup package and for insuring proper dispensing of the cups. 'In the present instance,- the package is mounted in a holder l2 which consists of a sheet metal band or plate bent to c-shaped form and having a vertical rear wall l3, opposite flat vertical side walls It, and a front wall which preferably is formed by spaced inturned vertical front flanges I5 on the side walls. The .side walls may be either resilient or. rigid, as desired. The rear wall l3 has a central vertical rearwardly-projecting channel portion It provided with openings 1 I to receive screws l8 or other fastening elements by which the holder is secured to any suitable support l9. The holder l2 is open at its upper and lower ends. The-package Ill slidably flts in the holder and is supported at its lower edge by stop lugs 20 bent from the rear wall [3.

In order to prevent the cups from falling out of the package and to insure proper dispensing of the cups, cam-formingembossments or pro- February 14, 1935, Serial No. 6,432

jections 2| are pressed into the lower central portions of the holder side walls Iland'have a wedging engagement with the resilient opposite .side walls of the cup package to bow or deflect the lower portions of these package walls inwardly, thereby pressing against and slightly deforming the cups, which are also resilient. The weight of the stack of cups is insuflicient to overcome this frictional engagement, although the lowermost cup can readily be withdrawn by exerting thereon a slight downward pull. 10

When a cup package is to be mounted in dispensing position, the bottom end of the package is either unfolded or torn ofl and the package is pushed downwardly into the holder until the package rests on the lugs 20. During the insertion of the package, the cups are held from falling out in any suitable manner, as by the fingers of one hand while the package is held in the other hand, the cup-holding fingers being free to pass downwardly through .the open front of 20 the holder. When the package approaches its lowermost position, the opposite side walls of the package slidably and frictionally engage the cam embossments 2| and are thus bowed inwardly. as seen in Figs. 1 and 3, to engage and hold the lowermost cups against dropping out. In some instances, the bottom of the package may be left closed until the package is mounted in the hold er. While the package is preferably pushed downwardly into the holder to engage the lugs 20, the embossme'nts 2| are capable of supporting the insertedpackage in dispensing position with its lower edge spaced a short distance above the lugs.

When a cup is to be dispensed, it is given a slight downward pull to release it from the -inwardly bowed side walls of the cup package, the succeeding cup being retained against dropping out byits engagement with these side walls. When the package is exhausted it is lifted out of the holder and discarded.

The front of the holder is preferably left open, as above described, in order to facilitate the insertion of the cup package, and to permit full desire to secure by opening cup package is insertable, there being a 5 stop projection on said plate limiting the inserting movement of the package, and said opposite side walls each having a cam embossment engageable by the entering package for urging opposite lower side portions of the package into frictional engagement with the lower cups.

2. A dispenser for nested paper cups and the like, comprising a holder into which a bottomopening cup package is insertable and having a wedging portion slidably engageable with the entering package for deflecting a lower side por tion of the package inwardly into frictional engagement with the lower cups, and stop means for limiting the movement of the package into the holder to insure a predetermined inward deflection of the lower side portion of the package by said wedging portion of the holder.

3. A holder for a package of nested paper cups or the like, said package having inwardly yield-' able resilient side walls and having an open lower end through which saidcups are withdrawable closed end first, said holder being adapted to have said cup package inserted therein lower end first and having a wedging portion slidably engageable by the entering package to deflect a lower side portion of the package inwardly into frictional engagement with the lower cups for supporting the stack of cups and for limiting the withdrawal of the cups to one at a time.

4. A holder for a package of nested paper cups or the like, said package having inwardly yieldable substantially flat opposite side walls and having an open lower end through which said cups are withdrawable closed end first, said holder being adapted to have said cup package inserted therein lower end first and having opposed wedging cam surfaces engageable by the opposite side walls of the entering package to deflect said side walls inwardly into frictional engagement with the lower cups for supporting the stack of cups and for limiting the withdrawal of the cups to one at a time.

5. A holder for a package of paper cups or the like, said package having. inwardly yieldable resilient side walls and having an open lower end through which said cups are withdrawable closed end first, said holder being adapted to have said cup package inserted therein and having sheet metal package-guiding side walls with inwardly pressed cam embossments thereon slidably engageable by the side walls of the entering package to deflect said package walls inwardly into frictional engagement with the lower cups for supporting the stack of cups and for limiting the withdrawal of the cups to one at a time.

SAMUEL N. HOPE. 

